


where dusk meets dawn

by ladykestrel



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: F/M, set in Shadow&Bone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-08
Updated: 2014-11-08
Packaged: 2018-02-24 12:52:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2582078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladykestrel/pseuds/ladykestrel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, all it's needed for light to shine through, is a little darkness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	where dusk meets dawn

**Author's Note:**

> During S&B, where Alina is discouraged at her lack of control over her powers and takes comfort in the Darkling.

The door slammed shut behind her as Alina was left to stand in the chill night’s presence. Grown used to the suffocating heat in Baghra’s hut, the frosty air sunk its sharpened teeth through all the layers and bit into Alina’s bristled skin. The girl shuddered inside her winter coat, wishing she’d been born an _Inferni_ instead, so she could summon some heat into her prickly fingers. Blowing a sigh out and watching how her breath stained the air, Alina took a step away from her mentor’s humble, and yet very warm, cabin. Her pride might have suffered some serious blows these last few months, but it was still there. And it would not let Alina turn around and bang on Baghra’s door, begging for forgiveness. She’d rather face the unforgiving winter rather than the ruthless old woman.

Alina walked in the direction of the Little Palace with a head held high. (Just in case prying grey eyes were watching her from behind a curtained window.)

If it weren’t cold enough already, the wind made the atmosphere more icy than ever. Streaks of hair whipped around Alina’s face as she focused on taking one step after the other. Ravka was not known for her tender winter seasons – Alina was used to the unforgiving temperatures during this time of year. That experience, however, did not make it easier on her.  Alina wondered if the weather had purposely worsened just as Baghra had thrown her out of their lessons; if the Saints were doing this to her as some kind of a punishment, or a sick joke in which Alina was the punchline.

Echoes of what Baghra had said to her, right before throwing her out to the cold, chimed in Alina’s head like bells. If she’d been feeling awful about her ability to wield the light – or lack thereof – the girl felt even direr now. If she hadn’t witnessed firsthand what powers lay inside her, Alina would think herself a fraud. A fake Sun Summoner to plant the seeds of hope and promises in the Ravkan people’s hearts, only to fall short in granting them true. They would have her torn apart in seconds.

“Alina,” she heard a familiar voice. Moments later she saw the person it belonged to as a shadow in the form of a man made his way towards her. The Darkling wore a long cloak over his black kefta and it swished around his tall frame with each of his strides. Quartz eyes looked down into her own as he was finally close enough for Alina to make out each of his features. “What are you doing out here?” Concern laced the Darkling’s velvety voice, creating a pattern of worry over his face.

“I was just going back to my quarters,” Alina mumbled. She was surprised at how choked her voice sounded, like she was underwater and gasping for air.

Long pale fingers pulled her chin up and Alina’s eyes were locked with The Darkling’s. He stared into them so intently, Alina felt her soul bare itself and lay down in front of him. He asked, “What has happened? Alina, why are you crying? Please, talk to me.”

She hadn’t realised she’d been crying. Now Alina felt moist over her cheeks and tasted the saltiness of her own pitiful tears. She tried to swallow them back, force her eyes to stop leaking, but it was of no use. The tears were coming down faster now, and there was no way Alina could hide from the Darkling’s gaze. She let them fall as her own stare met his. Something softened inside his granite eyes, though Alina could not pinpoint what. Like noticing there had been edges only when you’ve smoothed them out. The Darkling’s palms went to cup her face and Alina shivered under his touch. The tremble that ran through her had little to do with the frosty night’s air. Something stirred inside her; something long buried and repressed. Alina felt ripples, surges of what she thought was lost. Her power pulsed under the Darkling’s touch, his hands calling it out.

“Shall we get you inside?” The Darkling spoke, his breath mingling with hers. A half-smile – or signature, as Alina referred to it – formed on his lips. He stepped away and offered Alina a gloved hand. She took it, wiping away the stray tears with her other one. Together, they walked to the Little Palace.

Instead of accompanying her to her rooms, the Darkling took Alina to the war room. He told her to stay inside and wait for him as he would be right back – there was some business to be tended to first. The Darkling left with a promise of returning as soon as possible. Alina sat on one of the chairs surrounding the large table placed in the middle of the room and waited. She poured over the details of the walls, the maps hung up on and taking up almost all of the space. Her fingers trailed over the table’s polished wood surface. Her foot tapped over the room’s carpeted floor.

It wasn’t long before the doors creaked and the Darkling burst through them. The noise startled Alina – she nearly knocked her chair over with her abrupt rising. The Darkling turned to her and he looked like he had forgotten she was even there. That he had told her to wait for him. There was fire in the way he held himself, it burned in his cloudy eyes. Alina had never seen the Darkling as anything other than composed, calm, collected. This is the first time she’d witnessed this man loose the tiniest bit of control – and he wasn’t even doing anything. There was tension in his body, so much of it. His rigidness, his heavy breathing. Whatever matters he had attended to, they had left him distraut.

Alina meant to leave. She headed for the door until the Darkling blocked her path. He was standing so close that her face was practically buried in his chest. She looked up to him and found his eyes already staring back. It was difficult to name the emotion Alina saw in those pools of grey quartz.

In the end, she didn’t have to.

Because the Darkling had taken her face into his hands. His lips met hers with the urgency of a starving man. Alina was shocked to realise she was just as hungry. She eagerly returned the kiss, applying more force, more push, _more_. If the Darkling had any reservations before, he did not have them now.

Light met darkness as two polar opposites met in the middle. Strong arms circled Alina’s waist, pulling her closer to the Darkling’s body than she thought possible. She pressed further, burying her fingers in his hair. She felt the rustle of her skirts, the way they went up, up, up. Fingertips tracing intricate outlines on her thighs, making her shiver in response. Alina drew her head back, exposing her neck to the Darkling’s kisses. His lips found the spot behind her ear, the skin above her collarbone, the base of her neck.

Something solid push against Alina’s back as the Darkling wrapped her legs around his waist. He’d backed them up to the wall, pressing over one of the large maps. Alina felt the familiar pull, stronger now, making the power inside rebel against her, wanting to be set free. She desperately wished to let it out, to drown in her light, to blend with his darkness. She wanted more, more, more. The Darkling was whispering her name, softly, a caress of a feather, as he placed ghost kisses at every exposed skin he could find.

At that moment, Alina forgot about control, about Baghra and her shoutings. She laughed at herself for ever thinking she was a fraud. How could she be, when she felt this energy stirring, moving, escaping her with every sigh, every touch, every kiss. There was power resting at her core, and it was waiting for her to unlock it. She’d finally found the key.

Alina Starkov, for the first time, felt like a true Sun Summoner.


End file.
